Two paintings by Frits Van den Berghe in the care of the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent since 1940 are returned to the owner

On 27 September 2017, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs, Kris Peeters, and the Ghent Alderman for Culture, Tourism and Events, Annelies Storms, returned two paintings by Frits Van den Berghe to the heirs of Emile Henri David. The paintings, Sleeping Nude and Seated Nudes, had been in the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent since 1940. After a retrospective exhibition, they had not been collected by the owner, despite the museum's attempts to track him down. After an investigation by the Unit for the Recovery of Looted Goods of the FPS Economy, the rightful owners were identified.

The search for the rightful owners

In 2001, the “Belgian Jewish Community Indemnification Commission”, known as the Buysse Commission, published its “Final Report on the fate of the property of the members of the Jewish community of Belgium, looted or abandoned during the 1940-1945 war”. The task of that commission was to report to the government on the fate of looted or abandoned Jewish property.

In its report, the Commission also identified two paintings by Belgian artist Frits Van den Berghe (Ghent, 1883-1939) owned by Mr Emile Henri David. The two works concerned had been in the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent since the Second World War. In 1940, after a retrospective in Antwerp, they had been taken there by mistake. In 1946-1947, the museum directors and the chairman of the museum committee at that time tried to contact Mr David, but without success.

The Cell for the Recovery of Looted Goods during the Second World War in Belgium

In 2014, therefore, the “Cell for the Recovery of Looted Goods during the Second World War in Belgium” of the FPS Economy, in close cooperation with the Museum of Fine Arts, launched an investigation to identify the rightful owner(s). The Museum of Fine Arts has never disputed the ownership of the two paintings by Frits Van den Berghe. In the inventory of the museum's collection, the two paintings have always been listed as temporary loans from Mr David (i.e. in temporary custody).

The investigation found that Mr David had since passed away, but thanks to meticulous research, his children were found and the works can now be returned – 77 years after they disappeared from the family's possession.